Weapons and tools sacrificed

Vimose - or Allese Bog – is northwest of Odense on the island of Funen. Many weapons and other items of military equipment were discovered in the bog by peat diggers in the 19th century. The find was unearthed in the mid-19th century and contains close to 6,000…

Vimose - or Allese Bog – is northwest of Odense on the island of Funen. Many weapons and other items of military equipment were discovered in the bog by peat diggers in the 19th century. The find was unearthed in the mid-19th century and contains close to 6,000 objects. Most are items of military equipment sacrificed during seven different ceremonies in the period from the year 0 until 600. However, other periods ranging from the Stone Age until the Middle Ages are also represented. About 10 percent of the weapons were produced in the Roman Empire and imported to Scandinavia. The rest were made by local weaponsmiths. The find is exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark and museums in the city of Odense.

Plane sailing

In the 3rd century, more than 3,000 objects were sacrificed in Vimose, including a plane for making arrow shafts. The plane is made of box tree, a popular subject for topiary in suburban gardens and large parks. Box tree was not indigenous to Southern Scandinavia in the Iron Age. But it was native to Mediterranean countries and Roman-occupied England. The plane has a German design with curved animal-head ends but the raw materials are Roman. Perhaps a German archer living in a Roman citadel made the plane for his arrow shafts? Or perhaps a merchant brought the hardwood home from his travels on the high seas and sold it to a Nordic craftsman?